Jenkins was trained at the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) Wrestling Academy by Jon Dahmer and DJ Hyde.[4] He became an official student at the Academy on November 14, 2007, while he was still a senior in high school.[2] He made his CZW debut at No Pun Intended as "Adam Cole" on June 21, 2008, when he teamed with The Reason in a loss to GNC (Joe Gacy and Alex Colon).[7] His next appearance was on September 13 at the Chri$ Ca$h Memorial Show, when he defeated Tyler Veritas in a CZW Wrestling Academy showcase match.[8] Cole then began to feud with GNC, facing them in several matches with different partners. On October 11, GNC and EMO defeated Cole, L.J. Cruz and HDTV in a six-man tag team match.[9] At the following show, Night of Infamy 7: Greed, GNC defeated Cole and HDTV in a regular tag team match.[10] Cole gained his first win over GNC at Cage Of Death 10: Ultraviolent Anniversary when he, Veritas, and Cruz defeated GNC and EMO in a six-man tag team match.[11]

In 2009, Cole teamed regularly with Tyler Veritas. At X: Decade of Destruction – 10th Anniversary in February, Cole and Veritas won a tag team gauntlet match, outlasting the teams of The S.A.T., L.J. Cruz and Izzy Kensington, 2.0, All Money Is Legal, and GNC.[12] At the following show in March, they won a four-way match against the team of Jagged and Cole Calloway, GNC, and Team AnDrew (Andy Sumner and Drew Gulak).[13] After Cole took a hiatus from CZW, he returned at A Tangled Web 2 on August 8, where he and Veritas won another four-way match against BLKOUT, Team Macktion (TJ Mack and Kirby Mack) and the Spanish Armada (L.J. Cruz and Alex Colon).[14] At Down With The Sickness Forever, Cole and Veritas challenged for The Best Around (TJ Cannon and Bruce Maxwell) for the CZW World Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful.[15] For the remainder of 2009, Cole and Veritas began focusing on singles competition, as they both entered the tournament to determine the inaugural CZW Wired TV Champion. Cole defeated Alex Colon and Rich Swann en route to the final at Cage of Death 11, where he lost to Veritas.[16][17][18]

Cole posing on the ring apron in 2010.

At Walking on Pins and Needles in March 2010, Cole wrestled Sabian to a 15 minute time-limit draw.[19] Later in 2010, Cole began challenging for the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship, and on April 10, at Swinging For The Fences, Cole faced defending champion Sabian in a match that ended in a 20 minute time-limit draw.[20] On May 8, 2010 Cole won the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship by defeating defending champion Sabian and Ruckus in a three-way match at Fist Fight.[21][22] Cole went on to successfully defend the championship against Ryan Slater in both June and August and Blk Jeez in September.[23][24][25] At It's Always Bloody in Philadelphia on October 9, Cole turned into a heel (villainous character) by attacking long-time tag team partner Veritas. Later that night, Cole successfully defended his CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship against AR Fox.[26] In November, Cole toured Germany with CZW, and retained his championship against Zack Sabre, Jr. at Live In Germany in Oberhausen.[27] The following month, Cole gained Mia Yim as a manager, and she helped him to retain the Junior Heavyweight Championship in two separate matches at Cage Of Death XII.[28]

At Twelve: Anniversary in February 2011, Cole qualified for the Best of the Best X tournament by defeating Pinkie Sanchez.[29] On April 9, at Best of the Best X Cole qualified for the final of the tournament by defeating Kyle O'Reilly and Johnny Gargano in a three-way match in the first round and Sabre in the semi-final. He faced Sami Callihan in the final, and was victorious, winning the Best of the Best X tournament.[30][31] Cole then developed an alliance with his trainer DJ Hyde, with Hyde helping Cole to retain his championship against Fox in May.[32] Further title defenses against Jonatham Gresham, Chuck Taylor, and AJ Curcio throughout the year.[33][34][35] On November 12, Cole lost the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship to Callihan despite both Hyde and Yim interfering on his behalf, ending his reign at 553 days, the longest reign in the championship's history.[36]

At An Excellent Adventure in January 2012, Cole unsuccessfully challenged Devon Moore for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship.[37] Cole's alliance with Hyde ended at the Best of the Best 11 internet pay-per-view, when Hyde gained a new protégé in Tony Nese who Cole went on to defeat in a match.[38] Cole and Hyde began feuding briefly, with Hyde attacking Cole in May, and Cole attacking Hyde the following month.[39][40] In November 2012, Cole went on to feud with Sami Callihan, claiming that he would always be regarded as a better wrestler than Callihan.[41] At Cage of Death 14: Shattered Dreams the following month, Cole defeated Callihan in a No Hold Barred match.[42] On April 13, 2013, Cole defeated Callihan in what billed as the "final encounter" between the longtime rivals.[43]

On August 7, 2009, Carelle defeated Qenann Creed to win the MCW Rage Television Championship.[44] He held the championship for over four months, before losing it to Ryan McBride on December 26.[44] After changing his ring name to Adam Cole, he regained the championship from McBride two months later on February 27, 2010.[44] Cole held it until July 31, when he and Tyler Hilton were defeated by Cobian and Tommy Dreamer, which meant that Cobian won the championship.[44]

On November 7, 2009, Cole defeated VSK to win WXW C4's Hybrid Championship in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[45] He lost the championship to Dave Rose on March 6, 2010, after a five-month reign.[45]

On November 20 and 21, 2009, Cole defeated four opponents (DJ Hyde, Ryan McBride, "Mighty" Quinn Nash and Eric Enders) to win Ground Breaking Wrestling's 1st annual 16-man Battle of Gettysburg tournament.[46] With his victory, he earned a title shot against champion Greg Excellent in April 2010 but lost.[47]

Cole began competing for the Evolve promotion in 2010. In his debut match for the promotion on May 1 at Evolve 3: Rise Or Fall, he lost to Sami Callihan.[48][49] At Evolve 4, Cole defeated Johnny Gargano to improve his record to one win and one loss. Following his victory he challenged Jimmy Jacobs to a match at the next show.[50] At EVOLVE 5: Danielson vs. Sawa, Cole lost to Jacobs.[51]

On August 23, 2010, ROH announced that Cole had signed a contract with the company.[63] At the August 2 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Cole was defeated by Mike Bennett.[64] Cole began to ally himself with fellow ROH newcomer Kyle O'Reilly, with the pair forming a tag team. At the October 2 Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings they defeated the team of Grizzly Redwood and Mike Sydal.[65] They lost to Steve Corino and Kevin Steen on October 15, and the All Night Express of Kenny King and Rhett Titus at a show on October 16.[66][67] They defeated the Bravado Brothers (Harlem and Lance) on the November 8 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling.[68] On November 12, Cole participated in the 2010 edition of the Survival of the Fittest tournament. He defeated Steve Corino in the first round, but was the second person eliminated from the final, a six-man elimination match.[69] The following night in Toronto, Cole and O'Reilly defeated the Bravado Brothers.[70] Cole made his ROH pay-per-view debut on December 18 at Final Battle 2010, where he and O'Reilly were defeated by the All Night Express.[71] On April 1 and 2 at Chapter One and Two of Honor Takes Center Stage, Cole and O'Reilly faced the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) and the Kings of Wrestling in two losing efforts, despite putting on strong performances.[72][73] On July 8, Cole and O'Reilly defeated the Bravado Brothers to earn a future shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship.[74] On July 25, ROH announced that Cole had re-signed with the promotion.[75] At the August 13 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, the tag team of Cole and O'Reilly was named Future Shock.[76]

After the ROH World Championship was vacated, Cole entered a tournament to determine the new champion, defeating Mark Briscoe in his first round match on July 27.[87] On August 3, Cole defeated Jay Lethal to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.[88] On September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI, Cole first defeated Tommaso Ciampa in the semifinals and then Michael Elgin in the finals to win the tournament and become the new ROH World Champion. After being presented the title belt by former champion Jay Briscoe, Cole attacked Briscoe and Elgin thus establishing himself as a villainess.[89][90] In early November, Cole suffered a concussion, temporarily sidelining him from wrestling.[91] On December 14 at Final Battle 2013, Cole successfully defended the ROH World Championship in a three-way match against Briscoe and Elgin, following outside interference from Matt Hardy.[92] Post-match, Cole and Hardy were attacked by the returning Chris Hero,[92] which led to Cole's next title defense on February 21, 2014, at the 12th Anniversary Show, where he defeated Hero.[93] A rematch between the two, contested under Ringmaster's Challenge rules, took place on March 8 and saw Cole again retain the title.[94] On April 4 at Supercard of Honor VIII, Cole defeated Jay Briscoe in a ladder match to become the undisputed ROH World Champion, retaining his title and taking over Briscoe's unrecognized "Real World Title".[95] In May 2014, Cole took part in a tour co-produced by ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), during which he made two more successful title defenses; first against Kevin Steen at Global Wars on May 10 and then against NJPW's Jushin Thunder Liger at War of the Worlds on May 17.[96][97] The following month, Cole retained the championship against ACH and Tommaso Ciamapa.[98][99] On June 22 at Best in the World 2014, Cole lost the ROH World Championship to Michael Elgin, ending his reign at 275 days.[100] Through ROH's relationship with NJPW, Cole made an appearance for the Japanese promotion on August 10 in Tokorozawa, Saitama, teaming with Michael Bennett to defeat Captain New Japan and Jushin Thunder Liger in a tag team match.[101] Back in ROH, Cole won the 2014 Survival of the Fittest on November 8.[102] On December 7 at Final Battle 2014, Cole unsuccessfully challenged Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Championship in a Fight Without Honor.[103] The following week, Cole announced he had suffered a shoulder injury, which required surgery.[104]

Cole made his debut in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) on October 22, 2011, alongside regular tag team partner O'Reilly as Future Shock, unsuccessfully challenging The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) for the PWG World Tag Team Championship.[105][106] Future Shock were defeated by the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma), at Fear on December 10.[107] On April 21, 2012, Future Shock entered the annual Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament (DDT4), where they made it to the semifinals, before losing to the eventual tournament winners, the Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Stupefied).[108] On July 21 at PWG's ninth anniversary event, Future Shock unsuccessfully challenged the Super Smash Bros. for the PWG World Tag Team Championship in a three-way ladder match, which also included The Young Bucks.[109] On September 1, Cole entered the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles, now working under his "Panama City Playboy" heel persona.[110] After upsetting El Generico in his first round match, Cole advanced to the following day's quarterfinals, where he defeated Eddie Edwards.[111][112] After a win over Sami Callihan in the semifinals, Cole defeated Michael Elgin in the finals to win the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles and become the number one contender to the PWG World Championship.[112] Following his win, Cole attacked the reigning champion, Kevin Steen, and left with his title belt.[112] On December 1, Cole defeated Steen in a Guerrilla Warfare match to become the new PWG World Champion.[113][114] On January 12, 2013, Cole reunited with Kyle O'Reilly to enter the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament. After defeating the DojoBros (Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong) in their first round match, Future Shock was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by El Generico and Kevin Steen.[115] On March 23, Cole made his first successful defense of the PWG World Championship against Drake Younger, and followed it with another retention against longtime rival, the WWE bound Sami Callihan six falls to five in a 60-minute Iron Man match on June 16.[116][117][118] Two months later, at PWG's tenth anniversary event, Cole successfully retained his title in a three-way Guerrilla Warfare match against Drake Younger and Kevin Steen.[119] On August 31, Cole formed a new heel stable named "The Mount Rushmore of Wrestling" with Kevin Steen and The Young Bucks, when the four attacked 2013 Battle of Los Angeles winner Kyle O'Reilly, Candice LeRae, Joey Ryan and referee Rick Knox.[120][121] On October 19, Cole defeated O'Reilly, with help from his new stablemates, and on December 20 and 21 defeated Chris Hero and Johnny Gargano, respectively, to make his fourth, fifth and sixth successful defenses of the PWG World Championship.[122][123][124] On January 31, 2014, the 426th day of his title reign, Cole became the longest reigning PWG World Champion. Cole continued his reign on March 28, successfully defending the title against female wrestler Candice LeRae.[125] Cole's record-setting reign ended on May 23, when he lost the title to Kyle O'Reilly in a "Knockout or Submission Only" match.[126]